TSMC confirms that the Arizona Fab 21 plant experienced a power outage in September, with wafer loss and financial impact yet to be determined.

TSMC recently confirmed that its Fab 21 plant in Arizona experienced production interruptions in late September due to a power outage from a supplier. According to insider Tim Culpan, the outage forced the factory to scrap some wafers, but TSMC has not disclosed the exact quantity of losses or the economic impact. A TSMC representative confirmed to Tom's Hardware that the outage did occur, but did not confirm whether wafer losses were sustained.

The power outage originated from the British industrial gas supplier Linde, which is responsible for providing critical materials to Fab 21. Although the Fab 21 plant itself did not experience a blackout (equipped with backup generators), the interruption in the supply of critical materials forced the plant to halt production for several hours, resulting in potential losses. TSMC in the United States must rely on external suppliers to manage gas infrastructure, while in Taiwan it manages this itself, making Fab 21 more susceptible to supply chain disruptions.

This incident also highlights the importance of new factories identifying their own and their supply chain's weak points. TSMC can take preventive measures based on this to provide experience for the subsequent phases two and three of the Fab 21 project. It is worth noting that operational disruptions among advanced chip manufacturers are not uncommon, usually caused by natural disasters or human factors, rather than supplier failures.

A spokesperson for TSMC stated that the profitability of Fab 21 in the third quarter is close to breakeven due to increased startup costs for the Phase 3 project. Although specific financial impacts have not yet been announced, the cost of downtime for a modern advanced semiconductor factory could be very high. This quarter's financial report will further reveal the actual economic impact of the power outage on TSMC.